what_kind_of_ai_do_we_want._generative_ai_and_normalization [Felix Stalder, Prof. DfA]

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**"Liberate the possible from the tyranny of the probable."** (Dan McQuillan, Goldsmith University)

**About:**
 
In this module, we will combine theoretical and technical/practical approaches to AI, trying to develop a critical perspective and some hands-on experience at the same time. Our starting point is to consider «Artificial Intelligence» (AI) as a historical-material practice, that is, shaped by the concrete conditions of its development and use.

In particular, we want to look at the issue of “normalization”, the tendency of generative AI to create very similar-looking content, drawn from a relatively narrow range of possibilities.

Thus, we will look at contemporary artistic practices, read key texts to contextualize the development of AI within techno-capitalism, and have with guests who introduce us to the technologies that make AI appear intelligent and discuss their own (artistic) practices.

**Date, Times, Location:** Mo 04.03. - Fr 08.03., 09:15 -17:00, Room ZT 6.K04 


**[[https://pad.vmk.zhdk.ch/art_ai_fs2024|PAD for Notes and References]]**

==== Monday: 04.03 ====


"Introduction to Machine Learning": 

Guest: Alexandre Puttick ([[https://latentspaces.zhdk.ch|Latent Spaces Reserch Projekt]]). 

Understanding the Latent Space: Basic mathematical operations. {{:what_ai_2024.pdf|Slides}}

Playing a Game: [[https://semantle.com|Semantle.com]] 
  * [[https://www.tomsguide.com/news/this-wordle-alternative-is-impossibly-hard|Quick Intro]]
  * [[https://towardsdatascience.com/word2vec-explained-49c52b4ccb71|WordVec Explained.]] Toward Data Science (Jul 29, 2021)
  * [[https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/033/448/e29.jpg|Taylor Swift Programming Meme]] [[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/infosec-taylor-swift|Source]]

==== Tuesday: 05.03 ====

**The Issue of Normalization**
  * Jenka Gurfinkel: [[https://medium.com/@socialcreature/ai-and-the-american-smile-76d23a0fbfaf|AI and the American Smile. How AI misrepresents culture through a facial expression]]. Medium. Mar 27, 2023
  * Eric Salvaggio: [[https://www.cyberneticforests.com/news/social-diffusion-amp-the-seance-of-the-digital-archive|The Hypothetical Image]]. October 29, 2023
  * Roland Meyer: Plattform Realism ([[https://bsky.app/profile/bildoperationen.bsky.social/post/3k5ezegt44m2w|Thread August 20, 2023]], [[https://bsky.app/profile/bildoperationen.bsky.social/post/3k5wxyopdzs2v|Thread August 27, 2023]]; [[https://bsky.app/profile/bildoperationen.bsky.social/post/3kikzfdvfvf2m|Thread, Jan 9, 2024]])
**
Sources of Normalization**
  * Probability vs Possibility
  * Bias in Data
    * Mediengruppe Bitnik (2017) [[https://wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.bitnik.org/sor/|State of Reference]] (-> [[https://knowingmachines.org/models-all-the-way|Analysis of the LAION-5B Data Set]] Knowing Machines.)
    * Joy Boulamwini [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxuyfWoVV98|AI, Ain't I a Woman?]] (2019)
    * Google's Gemini 1.5. over-correction:
      * [[https://thezvi.wordpress.com/2024/02/22/gemini-has-a-problem/|Gemini Has a Problem]] 
      * [[https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/feb/28/google-chief-ai-tools-photo-diversity-offended-users|Google chief admits ‘biased’ AI tool’s photo diversity offended users]]
      * Google CEO: [[https://blog.google/products/gemini/gemini-image-generation-issue/|Gemini image generation got it wrong. We'll do better]]
  * Corporate Policy
    * [[https://cookbook.openai.com/examples/how_to_use_guardrails|OpenAI Guardrails]]
    * Avoiding controversy (in the US)
    * Reinforcement Learning 
  * Content Moderation
    * [[https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/aug/02/ai-chatbot-training-human-toll-content-moderator-meta-openai|‘It’s destroyed me completely’: Kenyan moderators decry toll of training of AI models]] Guardian, 2 Aug 2023
    * Gillespie, Tarleton. Custodians of the internet: platforms, content moderation, and the hidden decisions that shape social media. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2018.
    * Gray, Mary L., und Siddharth Suri. Ghost work: how to stop Silicon Valley from building a new global underclass. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019.
    * 
    * Frank and Eva Mattes, [[https://0100101110101101.org/dark-content/|Dark Continent]], 2015 [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrJf8ltqbAw|Episode One]] 4:50
    * Andrew N. Wilson, [[http://andrewnormanwilson.com/WorkersGoogleplex.html|Workers Leaving the Googleplex]], 2011, 11:03

Guest: **Eva Cetinic: Critical Perspectives on Generative AI: An Overview of Main Topics**

//This lecture will provide an overview of some of the recurring topics in the critical analysis of contemporary generative AI technologies. With a particular focus on generative text-to-image models, we will discuss some of the most frequently addressed themes in the critical reading of those models, such as bias and stereotypes; data laundering; limitations of prompting; authorship and anthropomorphization; impact on creative and media industries; aesthetic homogenization; etc. The goal of this lecture is to foster a deeper understanding of these topics and stimulate a discussion on the implications, constrains and opportunities that these problematic aspects of generative AI provide in the context of art and creativity. // 



==== Wednesday: 06.03 ====

Morning

**Colonialism / Post-colonialism**

**Historical Process (1492-1974)**

https://brilliantmaps.com/colonialism-history

**System of Dispossession**

"Colonialism = Thingification" (Aimé Césaire, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discourse_on_Colonialism |Discourse on Colonialism]])

Digital Colonialism
  * Infrastructure [[https://www.submarinecablemap.com/|Submarine Cable Map]], [[https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/facebook-users-by-country|Facebook User per country]], [[https://datacenters.atmeta.com/|Meta's Data Center Map]]
  * Extractivism. Vladan Joler. [[https://extractivism.online/|New Extractivism]] [[https://www.fondazioneprada.org/project/calculating-empires/?lang=en|CALCULATING EMPIRES. A GENEALOGY OF TECHNOLOGY AND POWER, 1500-2025]] Crawford / Joler, 2023/24
  * Bias in Data, Data Sets
    * [[https://adam.harvey.studio/|Adam Harvey]], [[https://exposing.ai|Exposing AI]]
    * https://haveibeentrained.com
  * Applications 

**De-colonizing AI**

11:30 - 13:00 [[https://www.nora-al-badri.de|Nora Al Bardi]] (via Zoom)

Afternoon

**Denormalization: The strange case of LOAB**

  * Ange Lavoipierre. [[https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-26/loab-age-of-artificial-intelligence-future/101678206|A journey inside our unimaginable future]]. ABC News, November 25, 2022
  * Matthew Sparkes. [[https://www.newscientist.com/article/2337303-why-do-ais-keep-creating-nightmarish-images-of-strange-characters/|Why do AIs keep creating nightmarish images of strange characters]]? New Scientist, September 23, 2022
  * Steph May Swanson:  [[https://media.ccc.de/v/37c3-12052-what_i_learned_from_loab_ai_as_a_creative_adversary|What I Learned from Loab: AI as a creative adversary]]. 37C3, 2023, 36 Min.

Negative Weighted Prompts

Non-Normal Speech

Experiments with animal voices
https://latentspaces.zhdk.ch/birdbot/


Waldrapp Field Recordings
https://xeno-canto.org/361510

Voice Cloning
https://replicate.com/afiaka87/tortoise-tts 
{{ ::toos_000_xc71695_northern_bald_ibis_mod.mp3 | Walrdapp Speech I}}
 {{ :002_xc267071_northern_bald_ibis_mod.mp3 | Waldrapp Voice II}}


==== Thursday: 07.03 ====

**Morning:**

80% happy:Computer and Emotions

[[https://www.paulekman.com/resources/universal-facial-expressions|Paul Eckmann Universal Facial Expressions]] 
     *  Anger
     *  Disgust
     *  Fear
     *  Happiness
     *  Sadness
     *  Surprise
     *  (neutral)

[[https://blog.realeyesit.com/mona-lisas-smile-in-the-mind|Monda Lisa's Smile]]

Wikipedia [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotion_classification|Emotion Classification]]

Content analysis vs. behavioral analysis (involuntary facial expressions, gait, typing, biometric data...)

Crawford, Kate. Atlas of AI: power, politics, and the planetary costs of artificial intelligence. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2021.{{ ::atlas_of_ai_power_politics_and_the_planet_-_crawford_kate_chap.5.pdf |Chapter 5: Affect}}

[[https://interaktiv.br.de/ki-bewerbung/en/|OBJECTIVE OR BIASED
On the questionable use of Artificial Intelligence for job applications]], 02.2021


**Afternoon: 13:30 -16:30 RAUM:  ZT 1.D07 Probebühne**

Guest: [[https://www.hendry.me|Manuel Hendry]] & the angry chatbot

-> 16:30 Cory Arcangel's Presentation (see pad)
==== Friday: 08.03 ====

**Morning** 

Individual Work on de-normalized generation.

Possibility of personal "mentorat"


**Afternoon**

One more game to play
  * Simon Weckert: [[ https://simonweckert.com/ml/draw/|ML Draw]]  (based on [[https://quickdraw.withgoogle.com|Google QuickDraw]])

Sharing of images and strategies

Round of Feedback